In the Still of the Night
by Anyisa
Summary: OneShot. Hermione has a secret spot at The Burrow that no one else knows about...so she thinks. AU


**Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing.**

**I hope you like it! It's my first fic with a Weasley in it. Let me know**

The Burrow was always quiet this time of night, she'd learned early on, and it was the perfect time to read. It had taken a few weeks to find the perfect spot as well but she felt it was well worth the search as she settled into the small window seat that overlooked the field the boys used for Quidditch practice.

"What are you doing up this late, Miss Granger?" a deep but not unfamiliar voice asked from behind her, causing her to start and drop the book she'd picked out for tonight.

"Charlie, you scared me," she gasped and unfolded her legs to let her feet barely graze the floor, glancing down at her book and wincing when she the book had landed with a few pages bent.

A chuckle came from the second eldest Weasley and she narrowed her eyes at him before she slid off of the cushioned sill and grabbed her book from the floor. In the month since she'd begun to have her 'Hermione Time' she'd never encountered anyone else and it was a little disappointing now that someone else knew about it, even if he had only just caught her.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione," he apologized although his wicked smile said the opposite. "I didn't think anyone else would be up."

"Neither did I," she admitted as she smoothed the cover of the book and ran her fingers over the spine lightly.

"Sneaking off to read a torrid love story, Hermione?" he asked with a smirk that had her blushing and hiding the book behind her back. Charlie hid a laugh at her reaction.

"That's completely uncalled for," she replied hotly. "What I read is none of your business and if I choose to read…"

"I was joking, girl, calm down," he said as he held his hands in front of him as if to defend himself, a smile he tried to hide making an unwanted appearance to Hermione.

She blushed again and looked away at his words, embarrassed that he'd gotten such a damning reaction from her. They were one of her guilty pleasures, romance novels, and it was one she had hoped to keep secret. She was thankful for her love of books and the cover it gave her when she wanted to indulge. She would only have to slip away to the library and being bothered was no longer a problem, giving her more than enough time to read the latest novel her mum sent her. She watched as Charlie sat down in her vacated seat and grinned at her as he leaned back against the window.

"I remember when I was around eight or nine and I wanted a place all to myself. I tore the house apart looking for somewhere I could just be alone and just when I had given up…I found this," he said, surprising Hermione with a peek into his past.

"Why did you need to be alone?" she found herself asking as she pushed his leg aside and sat next to him. It wasn't a large sill and the fit was tight but she didn't want to stand around for anyone to see if anyone else came downstairs.

"With Mum, Dad, Bill and…Percy always about it was hard to be anywhere without someone else in the same spot. The Burrow was smaller then," he said with a shrug causing which caused the sleeve of Hermione's arm to rise a bit. "You wouldn't understand that, though."

"No, I suppose I wouldn't," she said thinking of her younger years. She was an only child and had free run of the house she grew up in, although most of her time was spent in the library her parents had built years before she'd been born. She didn't know what it was like to have to fight for the attention of her parents or to fight for her own space.

"You're lucky then," he said with a smile and throwing her a wink that had her stammering. "I didn't think anyone else knew about this," he said to change the subject, his head tilting as he looked at the walls surrounding them turning his head to look out of the window.

"I didn't think anyone did either. This is the first time in a month anyone has bothered me when I've been here," she agreed.

"So I'm bothering you, huh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. I just meant…"

"I know. Are you always this serious?" he asked leaning back and almost taking her with him because of the close quarters.

Hermione bristled and straightened herself before she turned her head to look at him. He wasn't handsome but there was something attractive about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on it. His eyes were blue but not the startling blue that Ron's boasted and his face was a deep tan color that seemed out of place in the pale family but suited him perfectly. He wasn't tall, although he was taller than Hermione, and he seemed to have inherited more of his mothers build than his fathers. Not to say he looked a bit squishy in areas, he was just not the usually slim Weasley shape. He was rather muscular, Hermione supposed, and that could give the allusion of him being larger than he actually was. She broke her thoughts off and turned away from him hoping that he didn't catch the slight color in her cheeks. She didn't think she had a crush on the man but more and more she found herself following him, mostly with her eyes, or thinking about him when she had a few seconds to herself. It was a weird feeling whenever she caught herself thinking of her best friends older brother in more than a passing curiosity sort of way and within the past few weeks she'd found him watching her as well. While she would look away when he'd caught her watching him, he would simply continue to watch her until someone else got his attention and then he'd focus his gaze away after giving her an odd look she couldn't quite put a name to.

"Your too serious to only be 18 you know?" he asked drawing her attention to him again, a smile on his face again.

"I'm not serious, I'm just thinking about something," she answered licking her lips and gazing at his before looking away again to drag her thumbnail down the pages of her book, somewhat soothed by the almost ripping sound that came from her actions.

"Thinking about what?" he asked sitting up again and looking at her.

She was a bit nervous at his questions but didn't know how to get away from him. He was usually quiet, only talking when someone asked him a question and only showing interest if talking about his work at the Reserve in Romania, he was taking a month off for some 'me time' as he called it but missed it terribly and could talk for hours if asked a simple question about it.

"It wasn't that hard of a question was it Hermione?" he asked nudging her with his shoulder to get her attention once more.

"I was just thinking," she answered unable and unwilling to explain her thoughts to him.

"You were thinking about me, weren't you?" he asked with a smug smile.

She almost choked on a sharp intake of breath and went to stand only to find his arm across her middle, his hand resting on the wall trapping her in the small alcove.

"It's okay, Hermione," he said, sounding amused at her reaction.

Hermione turned so quickly to look at him that her hair hit his face, causing him to laugh and her to color. "I'm sorry," she said as she pulled her hair behind her shoulder.

He smiled and leaned close to her, his eyes moving over her face as he studied her.

"I've been thinking too," he said softly, a hand rising to her face. "I was sitting upstairs thinking about this," he continued waving his hand to the window and the walls of the area, "and couldn't help but wonder…" he stopped and looked at Hermione, who felt herself closing her eyes and leaning into him, "if I left a bag of sweets hidden in the little niche just there," he finished pulling away from her and raising the hand near her face to just above her head.

Her eyes snapped open and she watched as his hand disappeared into a hole she hadn't noticed before, trying to comprehend what had just happened. She looked at his face and saw him giving her a wicked smile then felt her face flush.

"I…you…I tho…you prat!" she hissed as she began to slap the arm that still rested across her middle. "Let me go!"

He brought he hand down from the hole and wrapped his other arm around her from the back, a smile firmly in place as she struggled to get away.

"Feisty little thing, aren't you?" he asked after she'd calmed down and began to get her breathing back under control.

"Let me go, Charlie," she said through clenched teeth, her hands still batting at his arm.

"Not until you calm down."

"Just let me go and leave me alone," she demanded when her attempts at physically removing his arm failed.

"Where's the fun in that? You'll just run off and then I won't be able to talk to you."

"You act as if I'd want to talk to you," she spat as she leveled her 'you-haven't-begun-to-catch-hell' gaze at him.

"You're too serious, Hermione. I was just joking with you," he tried to explain, which only made her stiffen and renew her attempts to free herself.

"Would you stop…?"

"Charlie?" Mrs. Weasley's voice called down from the steps sounding as though she'd just woken up.

Charlie gave Hermione a smirk before he answered, "Yes mum?"

"Stop making such a racket down there, I'm surprised I'm the only on that woke up. Now you're on holiday from the Reserve, get up stairs and get a good nights sleep…you too, Hermione," she called down before there was a shuffle of feet and a door closed.

Her night was officially the most embarrassing one to date and she stood as soon as his arms returned to his sides.

"Alright, Hermione, you've escaped the tamer," he said as he too stood, picking up her book and placing it in her hands.

With that he spun her to face him and dropped his lips to hers, wrapping his arms around her. He felt her open her mouth slightly but only nipped her bottom lip before pulling back and giving her a devilish smile.

"Until tomorrow, my lady," he said playfully before he turned and walked up the steps to the room he shared with Bill.

Hermione stared after him and lifted a hand to her mouth, running her fingers over her bottom lip softly as if to save the memory of his lips on hers. She blinked when she heard his door close and looked around before slowly making her way up the stairs to the room she shared with Ginny, hoping the girl was still asleep as she pushed the door open. After she was sure the ginger haired girl was still asleep Hermione walked to her bed and slid the book under it and into a small hole she'd found the first time she'd stayed at the burrow before she laid down and pulled the covers over herself.

"Charlie Weasley just kissed me!" she whispered to herself before rolling away from the door to face the wall, a smile on her face as she drifted off to sleep with thoughts of tomorrow swirling in her head.


End file.
